MrJoshuaUSA

Hello! First post here, but have been reading this forum for a 2+ years working on my 07 Maxima and have done extensive searching for my problem at hand. Thanks in advance for any help!


My 2007 Maxima SL currently has ~265k miles on it. The car is in fantastic condition and, until recently, have not had any issues. I am the 2nd owner since ~200k miles. The first owner regularly had into dealership for all routine maintenance and I have kept up with routine maintenance since I became the owner. Here is a brief recent history leading up to my current issue:


~260k miles:
Replaced camshaft position sensor after car started hiccuping and SLIP light illimunated after 10 mintues of driving. Issue went away after replacing camshaft position sensor.

~261k miles
Replaced inner and outer tie rod ends, had 4 new tires installed, had alignment done.


~262k miles:
This is where the current issue begins.

About 30 miles into interstate driving, turned off car to stop for lunch. Car doesn't want to start afterward - turns over fine, but idles low (<600 rpm) after "starting". I was finally able to get it started by giving it throttle to hold up RPMs. Back on interstate, I immediately notice that car seems underpowered. I have a hard time getting tach past 3500 rpms. Besides feeling underpowered, everything is running smooth. I can get to 70+mph, but slowly, whereas I used to be able to jump up to speed rather quickly - the car always had a good amount of "pep". It's like a switch was flipped while I was stopped for lunch and ever since I've had this issue.

During 90+ degree outside temperature with A/C running, the car is now running hot - the temp indicator seems to hit the single mark on the temp scale about 3/4 up the scale. It doesn't seem to go above this at all - perhaps the car goes into some sort of self limiting to prevent heating above this mark. With some strategic driving (coasting, taking it easy up hills) and reducing A/C running, I can get it to cool down.

TLDR: All of a sudden, car has difficulty starting one time and ever since has felt very underpowered.

Things that I checked:
Engine oil: good
Transmission fluid: good level, good honey-color, no indication of burning
Coolant level: good

I read the error codes using Bluedriver scanner, only code present is P1800 VIAS code.


~264k miles
I replaced VIAS intake runner solenoid and verify that the VIAS is now working. Also cleaned the MAF sensor and verified its values are in expected range.

~265k miles
Here we are today. I have made no progress on the low-power issue and it's becoming very frustrating. Occasionally (I believe it is correlated to cold-starting after not running for a day or two - though I can't be sure), the car takes ~2s longer to start than normal.


Some thoughts on possible causes:
ABS wheel speed sensor: There seems to be a well-documented issue with the abs wheel speed sensors causing performance or other issues on these cars. I don't believe this is a good candidate for my issue because 1) no ABS error codes 2) The relevant Nissan TSB specifically diagnoses this as the issue when there is low-power below 40mph and normal power above 40mph. I have issues at all speeds. If you think this is still a possibility, I can investigate further.

Fuel filter: I think it possible a clogged fuel filter or similar could cause this issue. But, according to other information on this site, it seems that the fuel filter is integral to the fuel pump assy and Nissan indicates that it's not needed to service this.

MAF sensor: I suppose this could be relevant, though I confirmed that the MAF values are in the expected range per service manual

Coils/plugs: I'm not sure if this is a culprit or not - I don't have any error codes indicating misfires or the like.

Timing: I read a few threads that suggested that I may have jumped a link on the timing chain that could have caused this issue - potentially related to camshaft position error and hiccuping above? Note that I didn't experience any anomalies prior to the fateful lunch stop.

Any thoughts or recommendations on how to proceed? I'm happy to do some diagnostic testing to help triage the issue. I'm at the edge of my auto skills here - I feel comfortable doing almost any repair myself given enough information, but don't have the experience to diagnose the problem any further. Any help or info you can provide will be greatly greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!!

GlockBoy

Too long to read. Skimmed through the thing. I highly suspect low compression (most likely due to exhaust valves not sealing due to carbon buildup as it is a high mileage engine). Check with a $15 compression tester. Also could be a failing head gasket. To check this, open the radiator cap, start the car, run it till it reaches operating temp and check if there are bubbles in the coolant. Also check wether the oil is "milky" in the next oil change. In any case, I'm 90% sure this is internal mechanical engine wear/damage and will probably require an engine-out and disassembly repair or engine replacement. Good luck. P.S. I REALLY encourage you to test the compression. Ciao.

MrJoshuaUSA

Thanks for recommendation (and I've edited the post to be more brief). Will perform the diagnostics you suggested. I regularly check the oil and have no indication of water contamination or milky-ness as of now.

One question: do you think that the causes you suggested could manifest themselves all of a sudden? That's the weird thing about this issue: one minute everything is perfect, next startup it's a totally different car. That's what nudged me in the direction of fuel filter or similar - maybe a piece of debris dislodged and clogged something suddenly.
-Joshua

GlockBoy

Nissans are pretty sensitive in regards to the electronics. If you had an electronic issue, you would have most likely seen codes. What I think happened is that you lost compression somehow during your drive but didn't immediately notice it as you didn't have to accelerate as you were already cruising at speed. You noticed it when you started to accelerate again. If it was an injector, timing, coil, plug or sensor issue, you would definitely have codes. If you have a laptop, try to download Nissan DataScan II. It will let you check each cylinder and let you know if there are any cylinders specifically which are making less/no power compared to others, and if that cylinder doesn't have low compression, replace the injector, spark plug and coil and your issue should be gone. You can try and find a cracked version which would be free. I have the cracked android version and if you can't find the cracked pc version you can use the android one to get all codes (even hidden ones) and also you can perform an ECU reset and idle air relearn. May help?

Dkrose98

Hey josh. Ive got an 05 Altima ser that is having the same issue. I bought the car in January and have done a full engine swap from an 06 maxima. I’ve put about 5000kms on the car.

My issue started with a similar situation as yours. I drove the car on a road trip about 400kms, no issues at all. Parked the car for the weekend, and when I went to start the car to head back home, it behaved like a totally different car.

i am having the same symptoms as you, replaced many of the parts you have listed: sensors etc
I’ve also checked for intake leaks as wells as and sort of fuel delivery issue.

I have come down to thinking that it may be the ecm, I have access to monitoring valve timing which seems to be way off, I can post the readings in a bit

Any further insight would be appreciated

GlockBoy

OHHHH CRAP. I forgot. Check for vacuum leaks. Might just be as simple as that. I had a vacuum leak a long time ago and you won't see a code pop up. Try all the diagnostics I mentioned and let me know. You and me are gonna 100% find and hopefully fix the issue lol. Good luck man.

Dkrose98

GlockBoy hay man just new here. How’s your vq swap going?

I seem to be having the same issue as josh here. I am able to monitor my valve timing and it seems to be trying to advance one bank and retard the other bank.

While driving the car, it seems to hesitate/ jerk minorly between 1500-3000 at any throttle position. Around 4500rpm at WOT it seems to hit a 2step like limiter, and of you keep it pinned it will stay on this limiter for about 2-3 seconds, then proceed to redline normally. If you accelerate at half throttle you can pass 4500 without hitting a limiter, but it continues to jerk/hesitate slightly.

only codes I have are lean bank 1 and 2 (due to my headers)
and crankshaft position sens (I have had this code since the swap and hasn’t been an issue until now)

GlockBoy

This is easy to solve. Wayyyy too common of an issue and ive fixed at least a dozen toyotas (happens a lot in toyotas for some reason), but there are a few different problems, so ull have to figure out which one you have. The "limiter" is not a limiter, it is ur engine surging, aka hesitation. This is because your engine isnt getting enough gas when a lot of air is being sucked it. This makes sense with the lean codes u have. ill list every single possible problem from most common to least common and one of these is guaranteed to be yours:
1. bad tps (throttle position sensor)
2. vacuum leak
3. bad injectors
4. bad plugs
5. bad maf, map or o2 sensor

I have my money on vacuum leak or bad tps. Either way, its a cheap and easy fix. And my swap went great but having a couple issues with the ecu. good luck. P.s. fix that crank pos sensor. Nissans are by far the most unnecessarily complicated jap cars.